1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a washing device, system and method for cleaning slats used in slat-type counting machines adapted for small, discrete particles such as pharmaceutical and nutritional tablets, capsules and caplets.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are many devices on the market today for counting capsules and tablets into containers such as bottles or boxes. One of the fastest types of tablet counters on the market today is a slat counter wherein slats are fitted onto a moving belt rotating through a hopper containing tablets or capsules. The slats have a predetermined number of holes, each of which are filled with a capsule or tablet from the hopper. As each slat moves to the unloading position, a predetermined number of tablets or capsules are directed into a container.
One type of slat counter is a continuous slat counter, which typically comprises a moving bed with a series of grooved slats that pass beneath a quantity of tablets. The grooves are further subdivided into cavities and one tablet is permitted to drop into each cavity until all the cavities are filled. After the filled slats move from beneath the stationary quantity of tablets, they are inverted and the tablets fall out and are collated and fed into containers via transport through a manifold system.
Another version of a continuous slat-type counting and filling machine is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,925,960, in which the slats and cavities are oriented horizontally, i.e., coaxial with the axis around which they are moving. A series of chutes collects the counted tablets and delivers them to a moving series of containers. Yet another variation of slat counting machines is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,674,259, in which the slats are vertically-oriented cavities that deliver the counted product to a series of chutes that shuttle alternately between a first and a second row of containers.
While slat-type counting devices provide high speed counting, their advantages become limited when the product enclosed in the capsules changes or when the quantity or size of the capsules to be packaged changes. If any of these parameters are altered, every slat has to be cleaned before it can be re-configured for the new product, which requires considerable down time.
The cleaning process presents a number of difficulties due to the size and configuration of typical slats. Historically, the slats used in counting devices are made from a FDA approved material, such as Delrin®, and have a row of cavities drilled into them to hold the tablets or capsules. Therefore, the cleaning process requires the precision of small parts cleaning in that small particles will need to be removed from small crevice-like openings and indentations. The cleaning process must also be on an industrial scale because the slats are typically fairly large items that must be cleaned in large quantities in industrial packaging settings. Typically, however, slats are taken to a maintenance area within a manufacturing facility and washed manually with, for example, tap water from a hose, and air-dried. The present invention discloses an apparatus and method for cleaning slats, which permits more thorough and efficient cleaning of slats, which is suited to industrial packaging settings.